MacMurdo's Opponents Get Their Pineapple Lumps

Friday, November 02, 2012

At the end of day one, we were all aflutter over the players at the top of the standings, but also sneakily and "unofficially" undefeated on 5-0-2, was Walker MacMurdo, an American ex-pat who's been living in New Zealand for the last 9 years.

MacMurdo continued his run through day two, drawing two more matches but never actually losing one, to enter the Top 8 in 6th place, his Four Color Reanimator deck chewing through his library to spit out Griselbrands, Craterhoof Behemoths, or one of his many Angels of Serenity.

First up in the Top 8, MacMurdo overwhelmed Auckland's John Denz and his Blue-White-Red control deck, then he move on to beat Dylan Brown from Sydney and his Séance Reanimator deck. Finally, MacMurdo met 2010 Australian National Champ Adam Witton in the finals, and Craterhoof Behemoth'd himself to victory in two straight games over Witton's Naya deck.

Joining MacMurdo, Witton, and Brown at Pro Tour Gatecrash in Montreal will be Yoshitoki Sakae from Japan, who has been studying in New Zealand for the last year, and finished at the top of the Swiss with his Blue-White-Red Midrange deck featuring 4 Thundermaw Hellkite.

Brown accelerated into a Thragtusk, and followed up with a Séance. Cheung had another Grisly Salvage. Cheung summoned a Thragtusk of his own, blocking Brown's attack and trading Thragtusks into graveyards. Séance came online, letting Brown gain another 5 life and showing the power of his engine.

Brown flashed back an Unburial Rites to get his own Angel of Serenity. After clearing out Cheung's Angel, Brown used a Slayer's Stronghold to pump and swing with the Angel and his army, knocking Cheung to a low life total.

Cheung sat back and considered his options. He had a lone Thragtusk in play against his opponent's Seance, Angel, Thragtusk token, Beast, and Pilgrim. He summoned an Angel of Serenity, continuing a mind-numbing series of exiles and zone changes that comes with the territory of two-player AoS shenanigans.

All the shenanigans in the world, however, couldn't hide the fact that Brown ended up getting one of his Angels back in his hand and still had that Slayer's Stronghold in play. Hasty Angels that remove your opponent's board...

Brown shows how Slayer's Stronghold earned its name, taking two straight games with the powerful land.

Grisly Salvage for Brown was just as juicy, hitting two Angels of Serenity, a Restoration Angel, and two lands. Brown didn't have any action on his third turn, while Cheung missed a land drop. Brown summoned a Thragtusk, leaving Cheung in an unenviable position.

Cheung found his third land but had no play, while Brown attacked and summoned another Thragtusk. Cheung cast a Lingering Souls to buy himself some time, then passed. Brown had a Sever the Bloodlines for the tokens, and a Slayer's Stronghold to hit for exactly lethal.

Dylan Brown 2 – Justin Cheung 0

Quarterfinals - Yoshitoki Sakai vs. Anthony Purdom

by Pip Foweraker

Game 1

Sakai opened Game 1 with a Mental Note into a Geist of Saint Taft, while Purdom spent his first few turns Faithless Looting to get his reanimation engine underway. Unfortunately, he was just a turn too slow – the incoming Angel and Legend nibbled away at his life total. Purdom reanimated a Griselbrand, but a quick Unsummon from Sakai let him crash in unopposed for lethal.

Yoshitoki Sakai 1 – Anthony Purdom 0

Game 2

Sakai struggled to mount any defence in the second game, as Purdom accelerated into Thragtusks. Geist of Saint Taft is much worse on the defensive, it would seem, as Sakai's life total collapsed in multiples of 5 in short order.

Anthony Purdom 1 – Yoshitoki Sakai 1

Game 3

For the decider, Sakai led the action with a Thundermaw Hellkite, which took a Dreadbore to the face in short order. Purdom summoned a Centaur Healer and a Thragtusk, while Sakai found another Hellkite. Purdom mounted a defence as best he could, but Sakai found a Clone to copy his Hellkite and punched through for lethal.

Yoshitoki Sakai 2 – Anthony Purdom 1

Quarterfinals - Adam Witton vs. Robert Liu

by Pip Foweraker

Game 1

Witton led off with pair of Keyrunes, and both players summoned Restoration Angels. Liu found a Detention Sphere for both of Witton's artifacts, but couldn't attack profitably. Witton had a great way to break a creature stalemate – Kessig Wolf Run. His Angel swung in, and Liu declined to sacrifice his Angel for no gain at this early point.

On Witton's next attack, Liu summoned a second Restoration Angel and blocked both the Beast and the Keyrune. Witton, however, had a Restoration Angel of his own, keeping his Keyrune alive. Witton found a trump a turn later in Angel of Serenity, wiping out Liu's board and prompting a concession.

Adam Witton 1 – Robert Liu 0

Game 2

If Game 1 was all about Wolf Run, Game 2 was all about Sigarda, Host of Herons. Witton started the game with a Huntmaster, Liu kept pace with a Dungeon Geist, and Witton took advantage of the lull to resolve a Sigarda.

Liu was immediately forced on the defensive by the hexproof flier, and while his defensive spells and burn could deal with Witton's other threats, Sigarda proved too much after four or five merciless attacks.

Adam Witton 2 – Robert Liu 0

Quarterfinals - Walker MacMurdo vs. John Denz

by Ray "blisterguy" Walkinshaw

Game 1

Having finished higher in the Swiss rounds, John Denz chose to play first, which would be important for his control deck trying to fend off Walker MacMurdo's Four-Color Reanimator deck.

But it wasn't like MacMurdo had been doing nothing. He flashed back Unburial Rites on an Angel of Serenity. While there was nothing for the 5/6 flier to exile, Denz really liked that the sound of that idea, and exiled it himself with a Detention Sphere.

Between the two Planeswalkers, Denz had the game on lockdown. MacMurdo tipped some more of his library into the bin with Grisly Salvage and Mulch, revealing a Griselbrand. His first attempt to Unbury the demon was exiled by a Syncopate, but the second was successful, and MacMurdo wasted no time throwing away some of his life to refill his hand, finding a Dreadbore to kill Tamiyo.

When MacMurdo tried to go in with another Duress the following turn, Denz hid behind the Negate he'd drawn, before untapping and summoning Tamiyo. MacMurdo summoned a Thragtusk, but that just gave Tamiyo something to hang on to. Denz then drew and played another Jace, Architect of Thought to hold back the Spirit tokens.

MacMurdo added a second Thragtusk to his team, but Denz was happy to exile them both with the Detention Sphere MacMurdo had seen earlier. A pair of Beasts sprang into existence, and Tamiyo immediately latched onto one of them.

Denz drew and played a land, and cast Entreat the Angels for 2. MacMurdo wiped them out with an Angel of Serenity, and attacked Denz down to 3. Denz's draw step was not a miracle, so he passed the turn back to MacMurdo, before trying again with a Sphnix's Revelation for 2. He flipped over the first card, revealing a land, before shaking his head with a smile, and offering the gracious handshake of defeat.

Walker MacMurdo defeats John Denz 2 – 1

Semifinals - Adam Witton vs. Yoshitoki Sakai

by Pip Foweraker

Game 1

Witton mulliganed to 6. Sakai led off with a Runechanter's Pike and a Geist of Saint Taft, while Witton found a Keyrune to try and keep pace. Witton, on the defensive, was forced to cast a Restoration Angel in his own end-step, leaving Sakai to crash in with the Geist unhindered.

Game 2

Witton started much more strongly in the second game, opening with a Keyrune and a Restoration Angel, while Sakai was forced to summon a Snapcaster with nothing much to do with it. Both players missed critical land drops, but Witton was able to hit his 5th land in time to drop a pair of Thragtusks, prompting a concession from Sakai in short order.

Adam Witton 1 – Yoshitoki Sakai 1

Game 3

Sakai mulliganed to 5 for the decider. The final fame started off fairly slowly. Witton tried a Huntmaster of the Fells, but Sakai had an Essence Scatter. Witton, luckily, had a second one, which stuck. Sakai took advantage of the lull to summon a Geist of Saint Taft. The ground started to stall out, exacerbated by Sakai's Clone on the Huntmaster.

Witton, Serene as his Angel, calmly wipes his opponent's board.

The stall was resolved fairly impressively by Witton's Angel of Serenity, clearing out Sakai's board. With nothing on the top of his deck, Sakai scooped up his cards.

Adam Witton 2 – Yoshitoki Sakai 1

Semifinals - Dylan Brown vs. Walker MacMurdo

by Pip Fowerakero

MacMurdo began the Semis with a Faithless Looting, slotting a Griselbrand directly into his graveyard. Brown had a Mulch to do the same, although his was less awesome. MacMurdo Mulched again, as did Brown, both players happy to get their engines up and running.

Some Lingering Souls decided to hang out on MacMurdo's side of the board. and passed, while Brown had a Seance to get things underway. MacMurdo had a Grisly Salvage to dump an Unburial Rites and an Angel of Serenity into his graveyard. He attacked with his Spirits, then cast an Acidic Slime to take out Brown's Seance. Brown played another and passed, happy to hang back with his Beast token.

MacMurdo could attack with his Spirit tokens, but voiced his foreboding about what was coming for him next turn, aware of Brown's growing pile of lands. MacMurdo summoned a Thragtusk, giving himself a little bit of a life buffer.

MacMurdo ran through the next turn's combat math, anticipating a Craterhoof Behemoth, attacked with his tokens and a Thragtusk, then passed. Brown's Séance started creating advantage for him, letting him get an Angel of Serenity token, clearing out MacMurdo's Angel for a turn and removing some of his Spirit tokens.

Brown hard-cast the Trostani, then used a Slayer's Stronghold to give it haste and copy a Séance'd Thragtusk Token. Cool? Cool. MacMurdo seemed unfazed, dropping another monster Angel and engaging in what both players agreed was Shenanigans with a Capital S. After a marathon game, both players life totals sat in the low 20's.

It's not every Magic player who survives a Craterhoof Behemoth to the face. MacMurdo's secret? Clean living and smart mulligans.

Brown offered a prayer to the Luck Gods, then tried a Faithless Looting to dig himself out of the hole he was in. The Gods sent neither an answer nor a shovel, so both players finished up an epic first game and moved to their sideboards.

Walker MacMurdo 1 – Dylan Brown 0

Game 2

"Your 4 will be better", advised Brown, as MacMurdo pondered his double-mulligan. MacMurdo disagreed, and Brown led play with an Avacyn's Pilgrim. The Pilgrim started bashing, while MacMurdo gained back his lost card advantage with a powerful Mulch.

Brown simply attacked with his creatures and played a second Thragtusk, bringing himself to 28. MacMurdo used his Unburial Rites on his Angel, removing one of Brown's Thragtusks, the Pilgrim, and a Thragtusk from his graveyard.

MacMurdo summoned a Deathrite Shaman and flashed back his Faithless Looting, discarding land and another Looting. MacMurdo used his Shaman to pump the Slime, being as aggressive as possible. Brown attacked back with both his men, life totals dropping evenly to the mid-teens.

Finals - Walker MacMurdo vs. Adam Witton

Game 1

Both players took a mulligan, but MacMurdo kept going, settling on his 5. Witton started the game with an Avacyn's Pilgrim, while MacMurdo's Mulch netted him 2 lands but no gas for his graveyard.

Witton had no action on his third turn, while MacMurdo cast a LingeringSouls. When Witton passed again with no action, MacMurdo claimed to have a been struck by a vision of a Restoration Angel in his near future.

A Selesnya Keyrune shored up Witton's board. MacMurdo Mulched, not hitting anything of import, and passed, both players developing slowly. Witton tapped out and summoned an Angel of Serenity, perversely refusing to exile his own creatures at his opponent's suggestion.

Witton summoned Garruk, Primal Hunter, and immediately made a Beast. Another Dreadbore from MacMurdo took out Garruk. Thragtusk joined the MacMurdo's team. Witton had no action, and passed with mana open and 3 cards in hand. MacMurdo restrained a spreading smile and attacked. Witton animated his Keyrune, blocked the Thragtusk, then flashed a Restoration Angel to save it.

"That's pretty good, I guess," said MacMurdo, casting a Lingering Souls post-combat and reanimating another Thragtusk. Witton cast a second Keyrune and passed. A hard-cast Craterhoof Behemoth was killed the instant it landed, but everyone else got big. It was all over but the handshake.

The Top 5 Cards of Grand Prix Auckland

Thundermaw Hellkite combines raw power with blisteringly synergistic abilities, and bundles it up into an angry little package that likes nothing more than to take chunks out of your opponent's life total, one quarter at a time. This wingèd beastie was ably pilot by Yoshitoki Sakai over the weekend, clobbering opponent after opponent to leave him at the top of the Swiss. He loved it enough that he played 4, all to fantastic effect. How do you defend against a haster that taps all your blockers? None of Sakai's foes could figure it out, either.

Think of a 4-letter word that causes violent reactions amongst those who hear it. Now make that word family friendly, and you end up with the most recent version of everybody's favourite prodigy, Jace. This new and improved version might not be as broken as his predecessors, but that doesn't mean he's lacking in power. Jace's ability to defend himself in addition to searching for answers to threats gives him a utility that's impressive indeed.

A key card in an emergent deck, Séance provides an amazing amount of strategic flexibility, especially when combined with a dedicated reanimator strategy. Creatures with comes-into-play abilities are doubly welcome – and Séance works particularly well with our Honourable Mention, Angel of Serenity. Not to mention our #1 card for the weekend. Basically, recycling creatures is awesome, and it's even better when the format is very token-friendly. The only thing better than a great creature is when it comes back to play some more. Speaking of which...

The thing about creatures is that they die. Usually, you'd prefer them not to. Unburial Rites lets you deal with this problem, and, just in case it doesn't work the first time, it's even got flashback so you can have another go. Combine Unburial Rites with a format filled with awesome creatures, cards that feed the graveyard, and what do you get? Something powerful. 'What sort of creatures?', you ask?

Thragtusk. Old Snouty. The Lumbering Wonder. The Green Menace. Trust me, in years form now, you'll look back on Thragtusk and wonder what you were doing playing Titans mere months before this intrepid Beast came out of M13 and into your decklist. Your nostalgia will be so overwhelming that you'll start to make up fanciful nicknames as terms of endearment. What doesn't Thragtusk do? It keeps you alive, has a huge power and a respectable toughness, and when it dies (and if you've been reading the list, you'll know that's not a bad thing) it leaves behind a reminder of what a great time you had together.